1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to methods for protecting, sealing, and decorating surfaces with a chemical compound that may be peeled off from the surface and re-used. More particularly, it relates to a method for using a chemical compound that protects surface finishes, seals cracks, joints, and seams, and that can be used in decorative writing, artistic creations,. or creative doodling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,044 to Swidler discloses polymeric peel-off coating compositions and methods of use for such coating. The coating is an emulsion consisting of a vinyl-acrylic copolymer emulsion or a vinyl acetate-ethylene emulsion, or a combination of the two formed by admixing the emulsions with one another. The composition protects surfaces of automobiles and other products against abrasion, abrasive dust, water, acid rain, and the like. The emulsion is dried to form a water-resistant protective coating that may be removed from the underlying surface by peeling.
The Swidler method fills a need but there remains room in the art for improvement. For example, lower cost, easier application, faster drying times, easier removeability, and enhanced durability would characterize an improved product.
More particularly, the needed composition would provide an inexpensive surface protectant, sealant, and decorative utility means that could be applied easily, that would dry to the touch quickly, that could be easily removed, and that could be re-used many times.
The needed composition would also be free of solvents and would not require any release agents.
However, in view of the prior art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how an improved composition could be provided.
The long-standing but heretofore unfulfilled need for an improved method for protecting surface is now met by a new, useful, and nonobvious invention. The novel method of protecting, sealing, and decorating a surface includes the steps of preparing a compound by admixing together a brush caulking compound and a dimensional fabric paint and applying the compound to a surface with a brush, roller, squeeze bottle, dispenser can, cartridge, texture finish sprayer, or other suitable applicator.
The step of preparing the compound includes the step of admixing together an elastomeric terpolymer brush caulking compound and a dimensional fabric paint. Alternatively, the step of preparing the compound includes the step of admixing together an acrylic copolymer brush caulking compound and a dimensional fabric paint.
The compound may be removed from the surface after the compound has cured. The removal is accomplished by manually stripping or peeling the compound from the surface. Advantageously, the compound has a tensile strength sufficient to ensure that it is stripped from the surface as an integral whole.
The compound is sufficiently durable to enable it to be repeatedly reapplied in its cured, integral whole state to a surface and repeatedly removed from the surface. The compound has sufficient adhesiveness to enable it to be adhered to the surface even after repeated strippings and reapplications to the surface. However, repeatability variations should be expected for various substrate surfaces.
More particularly, the novel compound may be stripped from a glass surface and reapplied to a painted metal surface. It may be stripped from the painted metal surface and reapplied to a plastic surface, a ceramic surface, and so on. The number of strippings and reapplications is not without limit, however.
The novel composition of matter consists essentially of a brush caulk admixed with a dimensional fabric paint in equal amounts by volume. The brush caulk is preferably of the elastomeric terpolymer type or the acrylic copolymer type. The brush caulk is also of the super adhesive type. Most brush caulk may be purchased as textured or smooth brush caulk. Smooth brush caulk is preferred over textured brush caulk in this invention, although textured brush caulk is not excluded from the scope of this invention.
A one to one (1:1) brush caulk to dimensional fabric paint admixture is preferred, but the amounts of each ingredient may vary by as much as twenty per cent (20%). Accordingly, the novel composition of matter may consist essentially of a brush caulk admixed with a dimensional fabric paint in amounts by volume where the brush caulk provides at least thirty percent of the composition of matter and the dimensional fabric paint provides no more than seventy percent of the composition of matter. In other words, the novel composition of matter may consist essentially of a brush caulk admixed with a dimensional fabric paint in amounts by volume where the brush caulk provides no more than seventy percent of the composition of matter and the dimensional fabric paint provides at least thirty percent of the composition of matter.
An important object of this invention is to provide a method for protecting, sealing, and decorating surfaces.
A closely related object is to attain the foregoing object with a compound that is inexpensive to manufacture, easy to apply, fast-drying, easy to remove and highly durable so that it may be removed and re-used many times.
These and other important objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become clear as this description proceeds.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the description set forth hereinafter and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.